Saint Tulsidas

Tulsidas was a great Saint. He was a devotee of Shrīrām. Before He became a Saint, He performed regular spiritual practice for many years as a seeker. During that period, He used to feel that Shriram is superior to all other Deities and would not even glance at another Deity's image.

Once Tulsidas went to Dwarka (a city in modern day state of Gujarat, India) to visit Nandadas, a devotee of Shrīkrushna. On reaching there, he found Nandadas in the Shrikrushna temple. Tulsidas could not bear to look at the idol of Shrikrushna. He could not understand why Nandadas worshipped Shrikrushna instead of Shriram.

Nandadas was saddened by Tulsidas incorrect attitude towards other Dieties. He prayed to Shrikrushna to help his friend. Within minutes, the idol of Shrikrushna was transformed into that of Shriram. Immediately, Tulsidas realised His mistake. He realised that both were different forms of the same God and none was superior to the other. He felt repentant and tears started rolling down His cheeks. He hugged the idol and asked the God to forgive Him. Nandadas was happy too, as Tulsidas had finally realised the Truth. Both felt gratitude towards the God.

Moral: This story implies that all the Deities are different forms of the same God, but we see them as different due to our (spiritual) ignorance.To realise this truth, one needs to undertake regular spiritual practice.